Aphorismi

aphorisms

The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, a long series of propositions concerning the symptoms and diagnosis of disease and the art of healing and medicine. The first aphorism, which serves as a kind of introduction to the book, runs as follows:

role in history of medicine

...where disease was coming to be regarded as a natural rather than a supernatural phenomenon and doctors were encouraged to look for physical causes of illness. Some of the works, notably the Aphorismi (Aphorisms), were used as textbooks until the 19th century. The first and best-known aphorism is, “Life is Short, Art long, Occasion sudden and dangerous,...